


Distant Songs of Home

by timeless_alice



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Homesickness, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 15:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17748152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeless_alice/pseuds/timeless_alice
Summary: Ratchet and Optimus find solace in each other.





	Distant Songs of Home

There were times, when the nights were long and the world was still, when things became too much to bear. The distance and loneliness, the longing ache for a home that no longer was that settled into the chest and weighed heavily on the spark.

And in those times, Ratchet and Optimus would find each other. Sitting outside the silo in the quiet of the desert, where humans were unlikely to find them and when the other Autobots were entrenched in their own business- usually, sleeping. Shoulder to shoulder, watching the stars as if their gaze could draw out any Autobots still adrift.

Ratchet reached out a hand, never shifting his attention as he traced constellations from this new planet, touching fingers to Optimus’ before taking hold of him.

On these nights, they often did not speak, letting their companionship in the solitary landscape speak for itself. But on this night, with tension settling in along his spine and feeling too weary to keep his suffering silent, Ratchet spoke.

“How many do you think made it.” He glanced at Optimus, who kept his gaze locked on the heavens, expression sad and pensive. Ratchet added, just to fill the ensuing silence, “Off the planet, I mean.”

Optimus let out a low hum, engine rumbling with the sound. “I don’t know.” His words bore the weight of hundreds of thousands of years of war and loss. “I hope it was enough.”

At other times, Ratchet would have considered leaning into Optimus, offering a purr for comfort. But as a doctor who had seen many a patient come and go, his purr had become worn and rattling; even then, how could he ever hope to ease the burden that sat upon Optimus’ shoulders. Or, he thought with a sigh more tired than anything else, how could he hope to pretend that he wasn’t on the verge of snapping under his own burdens.

They sat in silence. Ratchet wished he could imagine that they were simply in a lull in the war, when their army didn’t sit on the edge of destruction, but the idea slipped through his fingers like sand. Still, he leaned against Optimus, engine silent, allowing the veneer of control to fall away to leave only raw vulnerability.

“I hope so too.”

Optimus rested his head against Ratchet’s, squeezing his hand. “I am happy you’re here, old friend.”

At that, Ratchet chuckled sadly, and replied, “I’m happy I’m with you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at timelessmulder


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